Challah is a traditional Jewish bread is that is often eaten during festive seasons. This isn’t a dairy-based bread i.e., there is neither butter nor milk in this recipe. The reason for the same originates from Jewish dietary laws(kosher) that prohibits the consumption of meat and dairy in the same meal. Hence, as this recipe requires eggs, butter is replaced with extra virgin olive oil, and milk is replaced with water.
This bread is very similar to the French brioche bread in terms of its mild sweetness, the shiny coat, and its soft, springy texture.
It is famous for its beautiful, braided pattern. The most common braids are the 3, 5, 6, and 12 strand braids. Here, we braid with the five-strand braid.
Now let’s get into the details and nuances of the recipe and the ingredients.
Ingredients tips:
- Yeast – As I mentioned early, it’s made from leavened dough, which implicates the presence of leavening agent. Yeast is the leavening agent used here.
Yeast are of 2 types available in the market-
a)Active dry yeast- which needs proofing with lukewarm water and sugar. This requires 15 minutes which increase the rising time of the dough. But there are less chances to fail as the proofing will indicate if the yeast is alive or dead, accordingly you can add or discard. This will save the dough.
b) Instant yeast- as the name implies is instant in nature, you can directly add it to the dry ingredients. It doesn’t need proofing as the particles are finer and dissolves and activates faster. This reduces the time of dough raising. It’s also available in the market as Rapid rise yeast or Quick rise yeast.
This recipe calls for instant yeast, you can directly add it to the dry ingredients.
2. Keep the rest of the ingredients at room temperature which helps to activate the instant yeast and in turn helps the dough to rise well.
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In a deep bowl add the flour and drop the yeast and salt on opposite sides of the bowl.
Use your finger to stir them into the flour. Create a hollow in the centre and add the extra virgin olive oil, eggs, honey.
Mix the ingredients until a crumbly mixture is formed.
Now, slowly add the water to your mixture. Depending on your flour you may need more or less water.
Once all the flour is accumulated into one ball; take it out and knead the bread dough for 15-20 mins.
Or stop when you can successfully perform the windowpane test. (refer to notes)
Now, place the dough in a well-greased bowl, and tightly cover with cling film and let it prove for 1.5 to 2 hours.
After proofing, unwrap the bowl.
Take the dough out and punch all the air bubbles out.
Now, measure the weight and divide it into five balls of equal weight.
Roll the balls into rope-like strands of about 20 inches in length.
Now place all the strands parallelly and join one of the ends by pressing them together.
Now divide the strands into batches of 2 and 3.
From the farthest side of the 3 strands branch, take a braid and cross it over and place it on the inside of the 2 strands braid side.
Now the braids will be of 3 and 2 branches. From the new 3 braids branch, take the farthest and cross over to the inner side of the 2 strands braid side
Continue this till you complete the braid.
And seal and tuck the ends under the bread.
Refer to the video to get a clear idea of how to braid the bread. Never pull on the stands as you braid, because the bread will taper down if you do so. Take a well-floured baking sheet and place the braided bread on it.
Then cover with cling film and let it prove for an hour or until it had doubled in size.
Before popping the bread into the oven, take the remaining egg yolk, dilute it with a little water and smear it on top of the braids.
Take some rock salt and drizzle on top. (The previous steps are entirely optional).
Bake at 200 degrees for 30-40 mins. If you feel the top of the bread is browning too fast, you can cover the cookie sheet with aluminum foil for some time while baking.
Take the bread out and let it cool down before you cut into it.
Recipe card
Preparation time:40 minutes
Proofing time: 2-3 hrs
Baking time:30-40 minutes
Cuisine: International
Category: Main course
Serves:6
Author: Varunika
Ingredients:
All-purpose flour: 500 grams
Salt: 2 tsp
Instant Yeast: 10-11 grams
Honey: 5 tbsp
Extra virgin olive oil: 1/3 cup
Eggs: 2
Egg yolks: 2
Water: 2/3 cup
For glazing(optional):
Egg yolk:1
Salt: few rock salt granules
Instructions:
- In a deep bowl add the flour and drop the yeast and salt on opposite sides of the bowl.
- Use your finger to stir them into the flour. Create a hollow in the centre and add the extra virgin olive oil, eggs, honey.
- Mix the ingredients until a crumbly mixture is formed.
- Now, slowly add the water to your mixture. Depending on your flour you may need more or less water.
- Once all the flour is accumulated into one ball; take it out and knead the bread dough for 15-20 mins or stop when you can successfully perform the windowpane test. (refer to notes)
- Now, place the dough in a well-greased bowl, and tightly cover with cling film and let it prove for 1.5 to 2 hours.
- After proofing, unwrap the bowl. Take the dough out and punch all the air bubbles out.
- Now, measure the weight and divide it into five balls of equal weight.
- Roll the balls into rope-like strands of about 20 inches in length.
- Now place all the strands parallelly and join one of the ends by pressing them together.
- Now divide the strands into batches of 2 and 3.
- From the farthest side of the 3 strands branch, take a braid and cross it over and place it on the inside of the 2 strands braid side.
- Now the braids will be of 3 and 2 branches.
- From the new 3 braids branch, take the farthest and cross over to the inner side of the 2 strands braid side.
- Continue this till you complete the braid and seal and tuck the ends under the bread.
- Refer to the video to get a clear idea of how to braid the bread.
- Never pull on the stands as you braid, because the bread will taper down if you do so.
- Take a well-floured baking sheet and place the braided bread on it. Then cover with cling film and let it prove for an hour or until it had doubled in size.
- Before popping the bread into the oven, take the remaining egg yolk, dilute it with a little water and smear it on top of the braids. Take some rock salt and drizzle on top. (The previous steps are entirely optional)
- Bake at 200 degrees for 30-40 mins. If you feel the top of the bread is browning too fast, you can cover the cookie sheet with aluminum foil for some time while baking.
- Take the bread out and let it cool down before you cut into it.
Notes:
- Bread flour is the best possible flour choice, as the bread will come out soft and chewy. Unfortunately, we don’t get it here, so we used all-purpose flour instead, and we are happy to report that the texture is still good.
- We used instant yeast because it doesn’t need time for fermentation. You can use active dry yeast, but you need to ferment it before you can add it to your flour which can take time.
- While kneading the dough; perform a test called the window-pane test to know when your dough is ready and doesn’t need more kneading. Tear off a piece of dough and stretch its corners with your fingers. It should not tear and should become thin and translucent, and you should be able to read big and bold letters with it.
- Keep all the ingredients at room temperature, because extreme temperatures can kill the yeast.
- You can use a hand or stand mixer to knead the dough, or you can just use your hands.
- If you are not a fan of the eggy smell, we suggest don’t do the egg yolk wash in the end. You can reduce the smell by cracking the egg and taking the yolk out just before you brush it on the loaf. Keeping the yolk out for a long time intensifies the smell. If you do not do the egg wash you won’t get a beautiful shiny finish on top though.